Ford Wins Another Championship Chance
March 25, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Kevon Bey played one minute during Detroit Henry Ford’s two-game stand at Breslin Center in 2015.
As he put it Friday, he “just sat and watched.”
But he clearly learned a few things too watching the Trojans finish their longest MHSAA Tournament run as Class B runners-up.
The 6-foot-4 senior was a little more involved this time. Bey played 29 minutes, made 10 of 12 shots for 21 points, and also grabbed eight rebounds as Henry Ford advanced again to the Class B Final with a 70-48 win over Williamston.
“I just came out trying to play for my team, playing my role,” said Bey, who’s averaged eight points and nine rebounds per game this season. “We’ve just been thinking about this since the season started, wanting to get back to playing at the Breslin.”
Henry Ford (19-6) will face Stevensville Lakeshore on Saturday in the final game of the 2015-16 season, the Class B championship game at 6:30 p.m.
The Trojans’ headliner this season has been senior guard James Towns, the leading scorer in last season’s title game loss to Wyoming Godwin Heights and the team’s leading scorer this winter at 23 points per contest.
He also was near-perfect from the field Friday, making 6 of 8 shots for 17 points. But Bey was among those who made the difference in a matchup that otherwise pitted two of Class B’s best guards.
Williamston senior Riley Lewis had a game-high 32 points and scored his team’s first 16. That was a tough way to keep up, as Ford built its lead to 10 points after five minutes and got it up to 28 near the end of the third quarter.
“We had scripts for the whole run of every team we played, and tonight they kinda flipped the script,” said Williamston interim coach Tom Lewis, who guided the team after coach Jason Bauer began cancer treatments earlier this month. “We knew we couldn’t play a certain style, and tonight they got going too quickly. The game got away from us, and we weren’t able to get it into the third quarter.
“We knew if we got it there, we’re pretty comfortable playing in close games and kind of have a recipe to close out. But they were too tough tonight.”
The Trojans scored 20 of their first 43 points of turnovers in building a 20-point third quarter lead.
Williamston (21-4) had downed an impressive slate of opponents during its run including three ranked among the top six in Class B, and the Hornets entered the postseason ranked No. 10. But the difference in Henry Ford was its experience. Four seniors started, with Towns and forward Alston Hunter back in the lineup after starting during Ford’s Breslin run a year ago.
“Just how hard they played, you could tell they were a tight team,” Riley Lewis said. “They stick together, and they’re experienced. And they got out here tonight and the show wasn’t too big for them. They looked like they had been there before, and they were ready. They threw some hard punches, and we couldn’t counter.”
Senior Jeremy Crawley added 14 points and five rebounds for Henry Ford, and Hunter had eight points and six rebounds.
Ford’s championship game berth in 2015 was the program’s first, so the Trojans again will play for their first title – and after again relying on a lesson from the first trip.
“Last year when we won, I thought the guys had really high emotions. People have got to understand there’s one more game,” Ford coach Kenneth Flowers said. “The first time Henry Ford had been to state championship (was) last year, and there were a lot of emotions back in our hotel room the night of. (So we have to) keep these guys humble, grounded, understanding it’s unfinished business.”
The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Henry Ford’s James Towns (5) pushes past Williamston’s Cole Kleiver during Friday’s Class B Semifinal. (Middle) The Hornets’ Riley Lewis (22) looked for an opening with Towns defending.
Warren De La Salle Follows 'Big Mike' to 1st Final Since 1982
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 25, 2022
EAST LANSING – The guy his teammates know affectionately as “Big Mike,” came up huge for Warren De La Salle Collegiate in Friday’s first Division 1 Semifinal.
Michael Sulaka, a 6-foot-8 junior, scored a game-high 20 points, with eight rebounds and four blocked shots to power the Pilots past Grand Rapids Northview 59-45 and into their first boys basketball championship game in 40 years.
“I wasn’t getting boxed out, so I was able to grab the rebounds, read the dude in front of me and put it back up,” explained Sulaka, who managed to post big numbers despite playing just 21 minutes due to foul trouble.
The Pilots (19-7) were the more aggressive team and dominated the interior, holding a commanding 35-20 rebounding edge and even more impressive 20-1 edge in second-chance points. Tamario Adley, an athletic 6-3 senior, grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
De La Salle, which won the Division 2 title in football this fall, will vie for its first boys basketball championship at 12:15 p.m. Saturday against Grand Blanc.
“We will enjoy this win for another half hour or 40 minutes and then get ready for one more,” said second-year De La Salle coach Gjon Djokaj, whose team reached the Finals after completing the regular season 13-7 and fourth place in the Detroit Catholic League Central. “I have the utmost confidence in these kids.
“I was telling people this summer that you can go 13-7 and finish fourth in our league and still have a chance to go to the Breslin. Well, guess what? We finished 13-7 and fourth in our league and now we’re in the state championship game.”
Djokaj is hoping his team starts Saturday like it did Friday, spotting Northview a 5-0 lead before ripping off a 16-2 run to take control.
The Pilots set the tone with defense, as their constant 2-2-1 full-court pressure and aggressive zone defense rattled the Wildcats. Northview started cold, making just 2-of-9 shots in the first quarter and finishing at 34 percent for the game, with Sulaka altering many shots from his middle spot of the Pilots’ 2-3 zone defense.
“I’m 6-8 and I put my hands up, and it’s hard for dudes to shoot over me,” Sulaka explained, matter-of-factly.
While Sulaka was dominating the action inside, the Pilots’ point guard duo of junior Nino Smith and senior Caleb Reese controlled the pace of the game. Smith scored 16 points, while Reese had just four, but contributed a game-high six assists.
“The strength of our team is our guard play,” said Djokaj, who returned four starters off last year’s team which lost in the Semifinals. “Our guards were making the right choices early and, in many cases, Big Mike was the beneficiary of that.”
Northview (25-2) fought back from its early 16-7 deficit in the second quarter behind the play of 6-6 senior Jalen Charity, a Grand Valley State commit. Charity scored seven points in the second quarter as the Wildcats trimmed the lead to just six points by halftime, 30-24.
However, Charity picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and was forced to the bench. He scored just two points in the second half, finishing with nine and a team-high six rebounds.
The lead was still six points entering the fourth quarter, 43-37, as 6-4 senior Kyler Vanderjagt tried to spark a rally. Vanderjagt, a Belmont (Tenn.) recruit and the runner-up in the state’s Mr. Basketball voting, finished with a team-high 19 points, but the Wildcats were unable to cut into De La Salle’s lead.
“We didn’t get some of those rebounds we really needed,” said third-year Northview coach David Chana. “That’s basketball. Some nights it just doesn’t work out for you. All in all, it’s been a great ride. We’ll be back.”
Tyran Thomas added nine points for the Wildcats, including three dunks.
Northview, the champion of the Ottawa-Kent Conference White, reached the Semifinals for the first time since 1990 and seemed to have its entire community packed into the Breslin.
De La Salle, meanwhile, gets the chance to win its first boys basketball title. The Pilots lost to Okemos in the Class B Final in 1982.
PHOTOS (Top) Warren De La Salle Collegiate’s Nino Smith (0) works to get up the baseline as Northview’s Cam Martin (24) defends. (Middle) The Pilots cheer on their teammates during the first Friday Semifinal. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)